‘Ringleader’ Pleads Guilty in Transgender Man’s Horrific Kidnapping, Torture and Murder — as Chilling Case Takes a Major Turn

Precious Arzuaga is expected to receive a life sentence for the murder of Sam Nordquist

Sam Nordquist, left, and Precious Arzuaga.

The woman considered the ringleader in the torture and murder of transgender man Sam Nordquist pleaded guilty to several charges.

Precious Arzuaga pleaded guilty to charges of murder, kidnapping, aggravated sexual abuse, coercion and endangering the welfare of a child, among other charges, Ontario County District Attorney Jason MacBride said in a June 26 statement.

Nordquist’s remains were discovered in a field in upstate New York in February 2025, PEOPLE previously reported.

Seven people, including Arzuaga, were arrested and charged in connection with Nordquist’s death.

Prosecutors previously said Nordquist, 24, was held captive in Hopewell, N.Y., where he was allegedly physically and sexually assaulted, denied “proper nutrition and hydration,” “fed feces,” forced to “drink urine,” made to obey “commands” and treated “like a dog.”

The suspects also allegedly poured bleach on him and covered his face with fabric and duct tape.

Captain Kelly Swift of the New York State Police called the case one of the “most horrific crimes” she’d seen in her career.

Nordquist’s family previously told the Democrat & Chronicle that he bought a round-trip plane ticket to New York from Minnesota, where he lived, to meet a woman in September 2024 but did not make a return trip.

The New York State Police said he was “subjected to ongoing physical abuse between December 2024 and February 2025.”

One of the charges Arzuaga had faced was that she coerced two children, aged 7 and 12, to participate in the torture of Nordquist.

One of the other six defendants, Emily Motyka, pleaded guilty to murder and kidnapping charges earlier this month, MacBride said in a June 2 statement.

The remaining defendants — Jennifer A. Quijano, Kyle Sage, Patrick A. Goodwin, Kimberly L. Sochia and Thomas G. Eaves — are still awaiting trial.

Arzuaga is expected to receive a life sentence in September, the D.A.’s office confirmed to PEOPLE.

“Sam will never have another birthday, another holiday, another family dinner, or vacation. He won’t get married. He won’t have children,” Nordquist’s mother, Linda, said following the guilty plea, per WHAM. “He’s gone. 24. Too young. He had a lot to live for, and he was loved by everybody.”